Sunday, January 08, 2012

Mexico Trip

Humm, I just discovered that I didn't write anything on this blog about my trip to Mexico. So, here we go. I hope it isn't to much of a repetition of what I wrote on the CAF website or the LDSFamily.net website.

Normally at this time of year I don't have much vacation time and I'm very busy at work. This year, the busiest time was November to December opened up for me. I looked at my vacation days and I had 5 days saved up. The trip to Mexico was from Christmas which was Sunday this year and ended on the day after New Years which was Monday. At work, we were given both Monday after Christmas and Monday after New Years off. So, I only needed 4 days. Coby struggled to get the time off at work but when push came to shove his boss decided to let him off of work the whole week since he was giving service to the needy in Mexico. Tiffany was generous enough to let us use her "stand by" tickets to fly from SLC down to San Diego. So, after a little tweaking and some miracles, I was headed to Mexico with Coby, Andy and Savanna.

You have probably seen my video that I made of the work and the play we did while in Mexico so I think I'll just talk about some of the things I thought about while down there. Here are a couple of things that struck me while down there. Keep in mind, I've been in 3rd world countries before and the poverty really doesn't shock me anymore. I searched for things that I could use in my life. Here are some of my thoughts.

As we crossed the boarder into Mexico it was interesting that I didn't need any identification, paperwork, visa, passport or any other paperwork. I also noticed that there wasn't a line at all getting into Mexico. We just walked across the boarder, through the gates and we were in. I think I really only saw one official looking guy sitting at a table asking us to push a button to see if we were the lucky ones to be "checked". Otherwise, it was pretty much void of security. HOWEVER, when entering into the USA, there was a line of people, a line of cars, there were security all around. There were several lines of people waiting to enter. When we arrived at the start of the line we were asked for identification, passports, birth certificates and we were asked what we purchased and what we did while in Mexico. The officer asked each of my kids a question or two and then he waved us in. We then scanned our bags and were permitted into the United States of America. Ok, so that seems pretty standard, how can this translate into a learning experience. Well, for me, it was a "type" or an "example" of what it will be like at judgement after we die. I believe that there are 3 kingdoms of glory that we can inherit. Three degrees of glory. After we die, it will be like the boarders of Mexico and the US. It will be fairly easy to get into the lower degrees of glory. There won't be a line, there won't be much security, there won't be much paperwork. We will be able to just walk across, HOWEVER, to get in the highest glory, I'm sure we will have to have all of our paperwork in order. There will be a line, there will be security, there will be documentation and questions that will be asked of us to determine whether we are allowed in this sacred location. Ok, so it is a little stretch of the imagination but it seems to fit, at least in my mind.

Second, I have a new appreciate of rules, laws and police officers. When traveling in Mexico there arn't man traffic regulations. Some places there aren't any stop signs or stop lights. In several locations we traveled the traffic was chaotic First come first serve was the rule and if you were in a bigger car, you had the right of way. There were pot holes, bumps, broken roads, speed bumps, and holes everywhere. The roads were unkept and the drivers didn't obey the traffic rules. Although it was sometimes pretty cool just to roll though a stop and keep moving if no one was there, it made me appreciate the rule of law in the USA. Drivers are constantly aware of the laws and rules of the road because the police do a great job of making sure we are safe. Without the enforcement of these driving laws, the US would not be as organized and safe as they are today. They would fall in the chaos of what is happening just across the boarder in Mexico.

I had to be such a downer on Mexico but these were a couple of things that I tried to notice and be thankful for once I was back in the good old U S of A.